Busalacchi’s Is a Bright Star Among Italian Restaurants in S.D.

“Where do you like to go for Italian?” is a common question, the answer to which follows easily enough. Several places come to mind, and one of them is Busalacchi’s, the Hillcrest trattoria that speaks Italian with a heavy Sicilian accent.

Like Sophia Loren, Busalacchi’s has mature good looks. It occupies a house of some age that shows its years to advantage, and the small dining rooms manage to be comfortable and intimate even when the place is bustling, which seems to be much of the time.

The restaurant’s chief physical attraction, however, is the canopied terrace, heated during the evening to make outdoor dining not just possible, but pleasant. This handsome, well-appointed terrace definitely gives Busalacchi’s some of its edge over the competition.

Chef-proprietor Joe Busalacchi was born in Sicily and spent his early years there, and his menu is in many ways the only in town to emphasize the specialties of that large, historied island in the Mediterranean. All the typical Italian foods, such as olive oil, garlic and tomatoes are present, but these in truth are general throughout the Mediterranean, and the Sicilian touch shows up both in a distinctive approach to seasoning and in specific regional recipes.

A bread that may not be specifically Sicilian but is decidedly delicious is offered hot, and replenished as needed; this is focaccia , interpreted here as a flat, relatively course dough dusted heavily with crushed garlic. The one problem with it is that one piece invites a chaser, and so on, and it is easy enough to fill up before the main course of the meal arrives.

The very first dish mentioned on the menu is at once a signature dish of Sicilian cuisine and Busalacchi’s most startling creation. This is caponata , a kind of fresh preserve or relish of eggplant, tomato, capers, olives and celery that can be served at any temperature but is best at room temperature, the way Busalacchi’s serves it. The list of ingredients may sound unremarkable, but when properly combined, the result is ravishing; like many eggplant dishes, caponata has a meaty quality and is deeply savory.

The appetizer list, in fact, neatly sets the tone followed by the rest of menu. There is a strong emphasis on squid (fried or stuffed), repeated later in the entree section, and on artichokes, also simply breaded and fried or stuffed with a sweet-savory mix of bread crumbs, Parmesan, raisins and pine nuts.

Pine nuts and raisins, a very typical Sicilian combination, turn up repeatedly, even in the bucatini con sardi , a regional specialty that tops a particularly elegant shape of macaroni with sardines, fennel, pine nuts, raisins and a light tomato sauce. Some of the 17 other pasta choices are more familiar--linguine with pesto , fettuccine Alfredo and the bolognese , or macaroni in a too mild-mannered meat sauce--but most are a step or more off the beaten track.

There is, for example, the spaghetti alla melanzane , which includes slices of eggplant as well as tomato sauce, and the pasta al Palermo, which tosses tubular penne with a highly aromatic sauce of capers, garlic, olives, tomato and sausage. The pasta tossed with ricotta cheese and marinara sauce is a calm, nicely mannered dish that sits at the opposite end of the spectrum from the pasta genovese , an unusual (for these parts) creation of noodles garnished with green beans and potatoes. Pungent pesto (a basil, garlic, nut and olive oil paste) is added to bring the dish together.

Green beans and potatoes team again, this time with tomatoes and sliced red onions, in the Sicilian potato salad, a dish that might sound too heavy to be taken as a starter course. One friend of Sicilian heritage did just that, though, chattering happily all the while about how it reminded her of her mother’s Sicilian potato salad. Oregano, rather than basil, seasons the dish.

The entrees sampled on two recent visits were serviceable rather than brilliant, and the one that earned the highest favor was a simple calamari steak piccata , or sauteed squid filet fished with mushrooms, lemon, parsley and and a sauce of its sauteing butter enriched with white wine. This is a classic Italian preparation that works equally well with chicken and veal (the menu offers both) and is always a pleasure when properly done.

The stuffed squid, or conical torsos packed with the sweet-savory paste mentioned above, were nice enough, but the sort of thing one might want to try but once. The filling lacked punch, and in any case, squid prepared in this manner tends to retain a strong hint of its innately rubbery nature.

The seafood listing also offers a couple of fairly typical shrimp dishes (breaded and fried, and sauteed with lemon, garlic, mushrooms and capers) and several fish of the day, typically finished with oil, garlic, lemon and, in some cases, oregano.

The most specifically Sicilian choices among the meat entrees are the vitello con melanzane and the spiedini , which take radically different approaches to the basic theme of breaded veal scallops. The vitello con melanzane is much the same as a cutlet Parmigiana, except that it includes a slice of prosciutto and another of fried eggplant between the veal base and the cheese and tomato sauce topping; no one ingredient really stood out, however. The spiedini method rolls breaded veal slices around provolone cheese, scallions and salami, then breads the bundles and finishes them on the charcoal grill. This is an excellent recipe, but the finished product seemed dry, and the crumbs were not crisp and brown like they would have been had they been basted with oil or melted butter.

The dessert tray runs to elaborate ice cream fantasies catered from off-premises, and tiny, fragile and elegant cannoli prepared by Chef Busalacchi’s mother. These last add up to only a couple of delicious mouthfuls, which is all one may want after one of the restaurant’s copious meals.

BUSALACCHI’S

3683 5th Ave., San Diego

298-0119 (reservations suggested)

Lunch Monday through Friday, dinner served nightly.

Credit cards accepted.

Dinner for two, including a moderate bottle of wine, tax and tip, $40 to $75.